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Of Mice And Men Curley's Wife Isolation

700 Words3 Pages

ohn Steinbeck's novel "Of Mice and Men" explores the lives of individuals living on a ranch during the Great Depression, highlighting the challenges and hardships they face, such as isolation. Isolation is a double-edged sword that can be both blessings and curse. The character of Curley's wifeexplifies this duality of isolation. Through her interactions with other characters, the harsh setting of the ranch, and the symbolic nature of her appearance, it becomes evident that isolation acts as both a blessing and a curse for Curley's wife. Curley's wife, a young and restless woman, is married to Curley, the son of the ranch owner. She is very unhappy in this marriage as she states, “I don’t like Curley. He ain’t a nice fella.” Being in a toxic and controlling marriage makes Curleys wife feel very alone but she has an escape from it. Curleys wife s isolated from the rest of the people living on the ranch, being the only women living there. This is a blessing to her as she can pick any guy she wants, not having any competition from other women. Curleys wife is very flirtatious by nature and loves to go into the other mens barn …show more content…

Curleys wife is never given a name of her own in the novel, always referred to as ‘Curleys wife’. This isolates her as she is never giving her own identity and is only view by us and the men at the ranch as an addition to Curley. One of the most powerful symbols is Curley's wife's hair, described as "soft and fine...hung in little rolled clusters, like sausages" (Steinbeck 32). Her hair represents her femininity and vulnerability, as well as the constraints placed upon her by society. However, in her isolated moments, she lets her hair down, revealing an essence of her true self. This act symbolizes her rebellion against societal norms and expectations. It represents her longing to break free from the limitations of her

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As the only women on the ranch, this causes Curley's wife to be the minority to all of the men on the farm. This causes her to become very lonely and isolated since she is the only women. In the texts Curley's wife says, “‘I get lonely,’... ‘You can talk to people, but I can't talk to nobody but Curley. Else he gets mad, ‘How’d you like not to talk to anybody?’”

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Despite being the only female on a ranch full of foul-mouthed men, Curley 's wife exploits both her sexuality and her status to demonstrate power throughout the novel. For instance, when first meeting Curley’s wife she attempts to enhance her body for the new men: “She put her hands behind her back and leaned against the door frame so that her body was thrown forward” (31). From Curley’s wife’s actions we learn that since the beginning she finds it necessary to flaunt her body, instead of showing her real personality. Furthermore, she is using her physical attraction to portray an appearance that is automatically seducing in hopes of placing herself above the newly arriving men. After Crooks tells Curley’s wife to get out of the barn, she erupts

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I myself find Curley 's wife to be a bit misunderstood. She is the only woman on a ranch full of grown men who work all day, I can see how she could get lonely and seek attention to herself to pass the time. Meester states that John Steinbeck isn’t being outright

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It is seen various times throughout the book how differently the rest of the characters act towards Curley’s wife. In the book the character is portrayed as an insignificant side character who is always trying to seek the attention of the rest. However, it can be said Curley’s wife is simply misunderstood. The character has a non caring husband who doesn’t seem to be interested in her whereabouts nor her wellbeing. In the book it is often seen that Curley’s wife is always looking for her husband, Curley.

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We got to see very little of who Curley's wife was. In this novella, we see how distant Curley was from his wife and how he was using her for appearances. There was no love in Curley and his wife's marriage. Steinbeck was making a point on how women were seen as something pretty, and they were in the way of the important things. Curley's wife was the only woman on the ranch which led her to talk to the ranch workers because all she had was Curley.

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